1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to the field of patient identification, particularly to methods, devices and systems for confirming the identity of an individual to receive a treatment with the patient for whom the treatment is intended.
2. Brief Description Of The Prior Art
The general use of identification materials for security or law enforcement purposes or credit cards bearing photographs or fingerprints has been the subject of patents and commercially available products. Examples of such patents include, for example, McKee, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,524; Hollie, U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,910; Nugent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,697; English, U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,514; De Gruchy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,395,804; and Voght, U.S. Pat. No. 1,380,506. Commercial security systems including the use of fingerprint identification are available, for example, from Fingermatrix, Inc., North While Plains, N.Y.; Thumbscan, Inc., Oakbrook, Ill.; and Identix, Inc., Palo Alto, Calif.
Drexler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,394 discloses a personal identification card on which are recorded visual images, such as a face image or fingerprint, and laser recorded data. By means of in situ laser recording, transaction data, information, or the like related to the photographic image is recorded at subsequent times. For example, insurance claims or medical record entries may be processed sequentially. A photograph of the claimant is alleged to protect against fraudulent use of the card.
Miller, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,240 discloses an identification system in which an individual's fingerprint is taken at the time identification is to be made and compared to a fingerprint record in a master file of the person the individual purports to be. The prints are taken in the form of transparencies, and those of the master record and those taken at the time of identification are superimposed. The comparison is made by measuring the amount of light passing through the transparencies.
Estrada, U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,570 discloses an identification system which utilizes an individual fingerprint and an identifier which can be correlated to the fingerprint and to a listing of valid identifiers. An identification card is used which has the individual's fingerprint, a grid superimposed over the fingerprint and an identifier printed thereon. The identifier is a series of symbols representing characteristics of the fingerprint. This allows the individual to be identified with a three-point identification check by comparing a new fingerprint of the individual to the fingerprint on the card, comparing the fingerprint on the card to the identifier, and confirming that the identifier is valid by determining if it is included in a list of approved individuals. No suggestion is made of its use in a medical or hospital context.
Systems and methods for positive identification of patients in hospitals and other institutions have been the subject of ongoing efforts at improving reliability.
Relating to hospital or patient care environments, a label printer which makes self-adhesive labels from an identification plate attached to a patient wristband is described in promotional literature from Bio-Logics Products, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,966.
Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,428 discloses a medical data, identification and health insurance card which carries both visually and machine readable data, including a photograph. It appears primarily to be a compact source of a relatively complete medical history. Brown makes no mention of any use of fingerprints, but does cite other patents relating to medical data cards, including Calavetta, U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,318; Hanna, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,640; Domo, U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,332; and Anderson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,554.
Siegel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,849 discloses a device and system for the identification of medication in an attempt to assure that only the patient for whom the medication was prescribed will receive it. A photograph of the patient is affixed to the medication container, in the form of a label, and/or patient record, such as a medication card or chart. Alternatively, upon admission a patient may be issued a "non-removable" identifying wrist band having a machine-readable portion and, optionally, a computer-generated likeness or a miniature photograph of the patient. Before treatment, the coded information on the patient wristband can be compared with that introduced into computerized central records upon admission.
This approach has the disadvantage of relying totally on the integrity of the wrist band, a device which has frequently been known to be removed by patients, or worse, exchanged. There is no direct comparison of the individual appearing for treatment with the admission records of the intended patients.
Notwithstanding the efforts described above, no really reliable method for direct, individually distinctive comparison of a patient, rather than some device or image issued to the patient, with the person appearing for treatment and purporting to be the intended patient has been achieved. Instead, previously available systems have invariably been subject to potential error resulting from human intervention at some point between record entry and treatment.
Disadvantages and risks resulting from misidentification, and resulting erroneous correlation of treatment and individual, include the unnecessary cost and delay to which patients are potentially exposed and, perhaps even more importantly, results in the wasteful utilization of limited treatment facilities.
More critically, in the context of patient treatment, such as surgery, drug or transfusion administration, emergency room trauma or cardiovascular intervention and the like. misidentification of a patient can be life threatening. This is true not only for the patient receiving treatment that was not intended and is inappropriate for the patient but is also potentially life threatening for the patient for whom such critical treatment was intended and who did not receive it because of the misidentification.